5 Tips to Get More Engagement on Facebook
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One of the things I get asked often from clients is, “How do I get more engagement on Facebook?” I generally find my clients are pretty good at posting reasonably frequently; they may even get a comment or two, but what they are really saying is, “I don’t think I’m getting much out of social, and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

So, how can you get more business through social media, or more specifically, Facebook? What content should you be posting, and most importantly, how can you measure your success? Check out our 5 tips to get more engagement on Facebook.

1) Get to know your audience

OK, you’ve probably heard the term “Facebook-stalking”. In fact, if you’re like me, you probably do it a lot. In a culture that’s so well connected through social media, we’ve actually become somewhat disconnected, to the point where we can go and check out our friends profiles, have a poke through their posts, check out some photos, maybe like a post or two and we feel like we’re up to date. Who needs to catch up for a coffee when I can just check you out online?

On a personal level, that’s not great, but from a business perspective, you can learn a lot about your customers by doing this. Facebook give some general metrics around customer demographics, but if you really want to know who is interacting with your business, or who is “behind the like or share” as the Cheerful Lime put it, you need to do a little stalking.

What’s the benefit of doing this? It gives you a true picture of the kind of people you are attracting, and it tells you more about who they are - all valuable when it comes to trying to do business with them.

2) Engage with other businesses

As I write this, I’m sitting in a local cafe having a coffee - or rather pondering my second one. There are two reasons I do this: 1) I like coffee, and as a marketing and design specialist, I don’t do well without it, and 2) it presents a very clever marketing opportunity.

As I engage with other businesses around me, I use this is as an opportunity for my business to interact with them on social media. It could be a photo tagging their business. It may be a “check-in”. It may be a business shout-out to thank them for great service. It may be a simple like on their posts from my business page. Whatever it is, it shows in their activity and gets your business in front of people you may not otherwise interact with.

Now, that doesn’t mean going out and tagging the heck out of every single business. It needs to be genuine. But, done well, its a great way to engage with businesses and individuals without forcing it.

3) Facebook is NOT Gumtree

If you’re using Facebook like a classified section of a newspaper, you’re doing it wrong. Unlike other forms of marketing, people don’t use social media to be marketed to. They use it to catch up on what their friends are doing, and let’s face it, they get enough advertising already. So if most of what you post is offers on products or services, or reasons why you are the best, you’ll find little engagement from most people.

Instead, give them compelling content. Give them humour. Give them free stuff... and when you have earned their trust, then you can talk product.

4) Be humble

Whoever said, “any publicity is good publicity” is an idiot - at least where business is concerned. Quite often, as business owners, we are really great at sharing our testimonials, and telling people that others think we are awesome. But what happens when you get a negative review? On social media, this can happen.

I once had a client I was trying to convince to join Facebook. His biggest reason for not doing it, and for not promoting his business there, was because he didn’t want any negative attention. In my opinion, that’s the wrong way to look at it. It’s more important to show your potential customers you are a real business who makes things right and fixes issues for your customers, than it is to only highlight the good stuff. Be humble and show your customers you care about their experience - whether good or bad.

5) Don’t be afraid to give things a go

I’d love to say that I know everything there is to know about social media, but the reality is, it changes so quickly that even I struggle to keep up. That’s why I encourage my clients to give things a go. If you see a new feature, try it out. If you are wondering about advertising, give it a go. You may find 100 things that don’t work, but in all the trial and error, you might find that one post that goes viral, that one video that transcends everything you have ever done, and sends your business into overdrive. But, if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

One last thing, make sure you stop and measure things. It’s always important to look back at what you have done to see what works better. Through that, you’ll find the right marketing that works for you and your business.

PS: If you're looking for a local digital agency that focuses on helping you achieve your marketing and business objectives, we can help! Drop us a comment or check out our website for more information.